CAS

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Inspiring Illustrations - The Pale Magician

11)
The Pale Magician

They
say, in Hyperborea, that if you want to find a necromancer you look in a graveyard
but if you want to find a magician you go to Khromarium, and in Khromarium the
magician to find is young Zorathus called the pale magician.

There
are more powerful sorcerors, witches and mages within the great city, but each
can be dangerous to deal with, each will use those who come to them, and
normally the cost of dealing with them is high. Zorathus has power enough and
each day seems to gain more, and lose some part of himself.

It
is said he never leaves his small tower, an ancient ruin older than man, except
in the moonlight. Zorathus has the look of one whom the sun has not touched,
but he is not a creature of the night. Instead call him a creature of dreams,
for it is in dreams where he truly dwells. And the cost of dealing with Zorathus
is not in coin but the dreams of those who come to him. A small price to pay
many think. One dream for a spell or enchantment, a scroll of minor power, the
varied skills of a sorceror for a dream. The greater the dweomencraft required
the cost in dreams increases, deeper dreams more powerful dreams, dreams taken
and never to come again.

Zorathus's
servants speak of a door in the ruined tower that appears only in the
moonlight, a door through which their master takes the dreams he collects, but
where it leads and what use he makes of other mens' dreams none know.

Appendix N

Appendix N: (From Gygax's DMG)

Inspirational And Educational Reading

Inspiration for all of the fantasy work I have done stems from the love my father showed when I was a lad, for he sent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerors and dauntless swordsmen. Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence, in fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young, from fairy tales such as those written by the brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples. Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950. The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as just about any other imaginative writing or screenplay you will be able to pluck kernels from which grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Inspirational Reading:

Anderson, Poul. THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE, The BROKEN SWORD

Moorcock, Michael. STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" Series (esp. the first three books)

Norton, Andre.

Offut, Andrew J., editor SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III

Pratt, Fletcher. BLUE STAR; et al.

Saberhagen, Fred. CHANGELING EARTH; et al.

St. Clair, Margaret. THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE HOBBIT; "Ring Trilogy"

Vance, Jack. THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al.

Weinbaum, Stanley.

Wellman, Manly Wade.Williamson, Jack.

Zelazny, Roger. JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" Series; et al.

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt; but all the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For ythis reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.